Monday, May 23, 2005

Let's Play Mortars and Missiles

Let's Play Mortars and MissilesMay 23, 2005

High level sources, close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon are leaking.
Drip, drip, drop. The rabbit is out of the hat. Sharon is in big trouble. Behind
the scenes political analysts say that, quite literally, "the oil is
boiling and an overflow is immanent."

Recent secret polls show that a majority of Israelis now oppose the
government's intended retreat from Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. The
reversal of public opinion began following media revelations of missile
factories in the Shomron and terrorist plans to start shelling coastal cities
this summer. The downward trend continued with reports that the terrorists have
obtained shoulder-launched surface-to-air Stinger
missiles and plan on using them to knock down planes flying in and out of Ben
Gurion airport. Last week's massive
bombardment of Gush Katif is the icing on the cake. Presently Sharon has given
orders to hush up media accounts which reported that senior officers in Gush
Katif are being denied the ability to prevent terror attacks upon civilians and
soldiers. It was reported that senior IDF commanders are being denied
permission to 'selectively eliminate' terror groups on their way to perpetrate
attacks, such as the massive attack on Kfar Darom early Friday morning. Israeli
combat helicopters, having spotted the terrorists, were denied permission 'to
take them out,' and ground forces were not allowed to ambush the terrorists
before they began their attack. The forces were ordered to 'guard at the
fence.' As a result, these terrorist took over an abandoned UN school and
started shooting missiles into Kfar Darom. It took an hour to get permission to
use tanks against the terrorists, by which time two of the three Arabs had
fled.

One reaction was the following letter addressed to Brigadier General
Aviv Kochavi, commander of the Gaza
division of the IDF from Dan Amiel of Kfar Darom:

…You are certainly aware that we in Gush Katif, and especially in Kfar
Darom,

have been suffering now for years. We have sustained losses, mothers
and

fathers who were murdered, children with amputated legs and other
serious

injuries, and now we are under enormous pressure because of the
threat of

expulsion. Friends of ours are in prison. So you will understand that
we are

not prepared in addition to all of the above also to have our
security

undermined.

I am twenty years old, a father to a child, who under other
circumstances

could have been under your command. Seven months ago as I came out of
the

synagogue in Kfar Darom still in my prayer shawl and phylacteries I
was

wounded by a mortar bomb. My injuries were considered fatal. I
hovered

between life and death for three weeks in the emergency ward. One of
my legs

was amputated and the other is paralyzed. I also have arm and belly
wounds.

At the moment I am undergoing rehabilitation, together with soldiers
such as

Ophir Livius and others.

The daily suffering we and our families have had to undergo is

indescribable. It is both physical, and also the knowledge that I and
my

family will have to live on with me as a cripple, both physically and

mentally, with my daily pains and my best years spent in hospitals.

In view of their bitter experience the people of Kfar Darom will not
stand

on the side while murderous terrorists attack us, our children and
our

soldiers. We will not condone abandoning anyone to danger, certainly
not for

political motives. Please pass on this message to your superiors. It
is

unthinkable that terrorists on their way to commit murder are
identified and

nothing is done to stop them, even though they use children as human

shields. We refuse to accept the price of more cripples, widows and
orphans,

and permanently injured soldiers.

The IDF has shown in the past that it is perfectly capable of
controlling

the situation. You are situated where you must take responsibility.
Instead

of thinking about base political consideration and how things will
look in

the media should adopt the saving of lives as your prime concern. We

appreciate all you have done so far and want to encourage you to
continue

working on behalf of our national security.

Several other items seem to have Sharon on the run. A new Israeli web site, initiated by MK Aryeh
Eldad, [www.meri.org.il] calls for massive civil disobedience and includes
suggested methods of operation, including: stopping paying taxes; returning Israeli
ID cards (teudat zehut); returning IDF ID cards and/or reserve call-up orders; refusing
to obey orders connected to the expulsion, blocking roads; closing the airports
and docks with massive sit-ins; massive coordinated vacations from
organizations backing and preparing the expulsion, in order to disrupt their
ability to function; tying up the police and other security forces in various
places in Israel, to prevent their participation in the actual expulsion;
violating orders placing the areas endangered by expulsion off-limits to civilians.

On top of this, Israeli media reported this morning that very senior IDF
officers are suggesting/demanding that the expulsion be 'postponed' for at
least six months, saying that "Disengagement on August 15 will be very bad
for Israel." The current Hamas attacks, fully coordinated with Abu Mazen
and the PA, together with intelligence information pointing at substantial
terror planned for this summer, lead military sources to view the Gush
Katif/Northern Shomron expulsions as a dire threat to Israeli security.

Yet, the Prime Minister persists. In New York, he declared that the
expulsion will take place as planned, that no changes are foreseen. Really?

I must relate a story I recently heard, from reliable sources: The IDF
is having trouble finding people willing to participate in the expulsion. Not
too long ago a meeting was held with two hundred pilots of the Israeli air
force and high-ranking members of the General Staff. "We haven't found
anyone else, so you're going to have to do the job, to go into Gush Katif and
implement the disengagement. You will have support from the outside, but the
main job will be yours."

When the speaker finished, one of the pilots stood up and said, "We
will not be your garbage pails, we will not do your dirty work for you. None of
us are going into Gush Katif to expel people from their homes." The other
pilots applauded, all stood, and left the room.

In Jerusalem, dozens of students are staging a hunger strike, protesting
the planned expulsion. According to one Gush Katif leader, Aryeh Yitzhaki, some
three hundred new housing units are presently being built in the Gush. Three
new Gaza Jewish communities are in the works. And on the other side, very few
Gush Katif families have agreed to leave their homes. The cooperation between
the expulsion forces and Gush Katif residents is virtually nonexistent.

There is one other side to this that I've neglected to mention. Again, a
short story from a book called 'The Miracles of Gush Katif,' which details
dozens of life-saving miracles that have occurred in the past five years in
Gush Katif.

A group of children, arriving home from school in Gush Katif, decided to
play a little game they call 'Mortars.' (Just like we used to play cops and
robbers or cowboys and Indians, in Gush Katif, they play 'mortars and
missiles.' The game consists of one of the
children yelling out 'mortar.' All the others have to immediately take cover.
So, one of the kids cried out 'Mortar' and they all scattered, finding a place
to hide. Just as they all found a place of protection, a mortar fell, exactly
where they'd been standing, literally seconds before. Miraculously, none of the
kids were hurt.

About Me

David Wilder began working with the Jewish Community
of Hebron in 1994. He served as the English spokesman for the community for 21
years, granting newspaper, television and radio interviews internationally. He has
written hundreds of columns, posted on internet and appearing on websites and
in newspapers around the world. He
published a booklet of questions and answers about Hebron, titled, “Breaking the Lies.” Additionally he has acted in the capacity of community photographer
for over 17 years. He has published several ebooks of his photographs and
articles, available on Amazon. His blogs on the Jerusalem Post and at IsraelNational News have been read by over a half a million people.

Presently executive director of Eretz.Org, David represents
and assists several organizations, including the Neve Avraham ChildrenTreatment Center in Kiryat Arba-Hebron. He continues to conduct tours of
Hebron's Jewish Community and speaks to numerous groups in Hebron. He occasionally
travels abroad, speaking at various functions, explaining the true realities of
today's Israeli-Arab He is also a popular lecturer in Hebron, dealing with
diverse groups, including interfaith delegations, from around the world.

David Wilder has been in Israel for 40 years. He is
married to Ora, a ‘Sabra,’ for 36 years. They lived in Kiryat Arba for 17 years
and have resided at Beit Hadassah in Hebron for seventeen years. They have
seven children, five of whom are married and have many grandchildren.